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| One person dead in CBD fire By Liang Kaixin/Favian Ng | Posted: 10 August 2011 1355 hrs
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<TBODY> </TBODY> A Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) spokesperson confirmed that the team found a dead body after the fire was put out at the Afro Asia Building. The body - charred beyond recognition - is believed to be that of a woman. The fire, which started at about 10am, is believed to have broken out at a small law firm, B Rengarajoo & Associates. It's owned by a husband-and-wife team, and the deceased is likely to be the wife. The husband, Mr Rengarajoo, who is in his 60s, was seen getting into an ambulance, but the wife was nowhere. Workers in the building evacuated in a calm manner. An office worker from Afro Asia Building said: " When the bell rang, we thought it was a fire drill. So (we) didn't bother much, until someone came running to our door and said there's a fire on the sixth floor." Another who also works in the same building said: "We were told to come down for safety reasons. It was quite bad initially." A man who was working in the unit next door said: "Suddenly I smelled the fume. I quickly went out, and I saw my friend's office (where) smoke (was) coming out from the door." SCDF sent several vehicles to the scene, including fire engines, four Red Rhinos, an ambulance and three support vehicles. Using water jets, 20 firefighters brought the fire at the small sixth floor unit under control in 30 minutes. Jet sprays were also used outside the building to prevent the fire from spreading. It is understood that SCDF officers found the dead body while they were hosing the unit. SCDF said occupants of the affected building had self-evacuated and the fire did not spread to adjacent units. Road closures around Robinson Road due to fire have also been lifted. During the fire, police closed the roads around the area - with McCallum Street (between Shenton Way and Robinson Road), Boon Tat Link and Maxwell Link affected. SCDF said an aerial appliance, which was used to support firefighters, encountered technical difficulties and could not be used to extend a boom to bring the firefighters closer to the fire. But SCDF said that in this case, it did not affect fire-fighting operations as the officers were able to access the fire without the appliance. Nonetheless, a second aerial appliance was immediately activated to the scene. Afro Asia Building is one of the oldest buildings in the area, houses many trading companies. And, this is the first time the building caught fire. It was upgraded just three months ago. The building's management, Afro Asia Shipping Company (Pte Ltd), told tenants they would be able to collect their important documents on Thursday. But, they can only resume business on Monday. SCDF is investigating the cause of the fire and the cause of death. - CNA/sf/ls/ck |
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